


When we made our way 'till now

by edourado



Series: Hell's Kitchen Chronicles [19]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluffy, Hell's Kitchen Cronicles, Kastledevil, OT3, Romance, Tumblr Prompt, angsty, edourado, maybe smutty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-12 16:59:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7114516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edourado/pseuds/edourado
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trumblr prompt: #4: "If he's going to treat you like shit, I'm gonna kick his ass."</p>
            </blockquote>





	When we made our way 'till now

**Author's Note:**

> Who loves Frank loving Karen loving Matt loving Frank and Karen and vice-versa? I do. Big time. Join the club. We have the best cookies.

When Karen opened the door, Frank almost smiled at her. 

And then he frowned, his murder face suddenly there. Surely her red, crying face had something to do with it. 

“What is it?” he stepped in, lifting her face by her chin, delicately, to inspect it, ignoring Max, who jumped up and down against his legs, welcoming him in. “What happened?”

Karen sniffed and shook her head. 

“Nothing”, she said, voice broken. “Nothing, I’m fine.”

He looked around her dark apartment, looking for signs, horrible signs of something, the thing that had left her like this. When his superficial sweep lifted nothing, he looked at her again. 

“You tell me what happened, right now. Are you hurt?”

She shook her head again, at the same time lifting her hand to try and hold, hide, wipe the tears that came raining down her cheek, breathing out a silent sob that shook her. 

Halfway desperate already, Frank looked down her body, looking for marks, evidence of something, anything. 

Turning back around look for signs one more time, he spotted it, the white cane leaning against the the wall by the door. Letting out a only half relieved breath, he looked at her, running a hand on the excited dog’s head to calm him down. 

“Red?”

Taking a shaky breath in, she nodded, trying to calm herself. Frank sighed, took her hand and moved to close and lock the door. 

“He just left.”

“What happened?”

She told him. Through tears that hurt him a hell lot more than she realized, she told him about how Matt had forgot he was supposed to pick her up from work today, that they were going to take Max for a walk through the Brooklyn bridge, something normal, something nice, because it was her birthday, and that she was already sad enough that Frank had been out of town on the day. All, again, because of Elektra. 

“What? She’s alive?”

She explained to him he had gotten a call from that old man, Stick, two days ago, explaining he had found her and, yes, apparently she wasn’t dead. She didn’t know the details, just that his ex-girlfriend was in some sort of coma, and that it was dangerous. Matt hadn’t explained everything, just left in a hurry and didn’t come back until a few hours ago, some half assed apology, saying he needed to leave again. 

He had only been delayed by the quick but hurtful argument they had, not even that enough to pull him from that woman. 

Frank rolled his eyes, cursing Matt under his breath. For all the Ivy League education, he sure could be pretty thick sometimes. 

“I know it’s serious,” she said, hip against the kitchen counter while he got her a glass of water from the fridge. “That he thought she was dead, and she’s not, and I get that he needs to deal with it, but I’m just sick of-” she interrupted herself, breathing. “I’m probably just overreacting, right? It’s nothing, he has to be there this time.” 

“No, you’re not”, he said, stepping closer to her and running his hands up and down her arms. “It’s your birthday, he should be here.”

New tears came and and she bowed her head. Frank leaned closer and she rested her cheek on his shoulder. 

“She’s fucking sleeping!” Karen said. “In a coma, or something. He explained, I understood, but if she’s unconscious, why does he need to be there 24/7?”

If she didn’t need him, Frank would leave right now, find Red and try and beat some sense into him. 

“I think he still loves her”, she whispered and he pulled her away from him a bit so he could look in her eyes. 

“Hey, no. He loves you.”

She sniffed, somewhat calmer, not crying so hard anymore. 

“I love you”, he offered and she smiled with just one corner of her mouth, playing with the zipper of his coat, eyes down. “And if he’s going to treat you like shit, I’m gonna kick his ass.”

Karen let go of his coat and took her glass to have another sip of water. 

“You should.”

“Listen”. He took her face in his hands, making her look at him. “He doesn’t love her. He loves you. Ok? He does, he loves you. She was important to him one day, that’s it. We all got history.”

She pulled him to her again and rested her head on his shoulder. 

“That being said, he is a jackass.”

Frank hugged her to him by her waist and she put her arms around his neck.

“At least you’re here”, she said, tightening their embrace, realizing he was back two days ahead of schedule. 

“I wish I got here sooner”, he said, the smell of her hair like liquid comfort over him. 

Karen let out a shaky, teary laugh when the dog whined, neglected, nudging their legs with his head. 

“We missed you”, she said while he finally gave the pet some attention. “Well, at least Max and I did.”

He straightened back up and leaned into her, touching his nose to hers.

“Did you?”

She nodded, angling her head, offering a kiss and asking for one at the same time. Frank touched his lips to hers very lightly, not wishing to rush anything. He always loved to start slow with her, build it up, stretch it out, savour the way she beckoned him in, the way she surrendered and melted against him. He loved all that. 

“Happy birthday, ma’am”, he whispered against her mouth, collecting the smallest of kisses, not leaning back. 

“Thank you, sir”, she whispered back, opening her mouth to him and hmm, there it was. Shit, those kisses of hers were better than any liquor. Got him nice and drunk, this fast.

He missed the hell out of her, these four days he was away. His original plan had been to get home, get her naked as fast as possible and take his time getting reacquainted. His time was usually faster than this, harder. In his head, Red would be there, making sure, with him, that her birthday went with a hell of a bang. 

Now, even if he did show up, Frank would keep him out. His mission was just to make her feel good, forget the tears and him, at least for now. 

Taking a step back from her, he dived and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder, making her gasp and laugh, and Max barked, no clue what was going on, his tail going from side to side excitedly.

“You stay, Max”, Frank said, pointing to the dog bed behind the couch, walking towards her bed. 

“Frank!” she called. 

When he sat her on the mattress, she had a smile on. She arranged her hair away from her face and he caught her mouth in his again, still soft, a bit more intense, pushing her until she was lying down. 

In that last hour until midnight came and took her day away, Frank tried to show her everything she meant. He tried, with his body, his hands and his mouth, to translate the treasure she was, every strand of golden hair and every inch of creamy skin, the impact of those blue eyes, the smoothness of her voice. He did his best to express that she was everything. 

When Red did show up, it was close to three in the morning. The sound of the window opening woke Frank up and he saw him climb it in, silently, close it again. Karen was sound asleep, as tangled to him as she could be, face in the crook of his neck, only her blanket covering them. 

It was only when Red was out of that damn suit and sat on his usual corner of the bed, that Frank spoke. 

“You’re a fucking idiot.”

Sighing and laying down, Matt turned towards them. 

“I know.”

Frank inspected his face, debating what to do. 

“You got your shit straightened out?”

“Not even close.” he reached a hand out, tracing a finger on the line Frank’s forearm made against Karen’s back. “But it’s clear, when it comes to her.”

Frank waited, knowing what he was going to say, but needing to hear it, to make sure.

“Right here”, he said. “That’s it, right here. Nothing else.”

After considering him for a second, Frank moved slightly, moving his face to place a kiss on her forehead. 

Karen stirred, letting out a sleepy groan, arching, stretching out. 

Frank placed a few kisses on her lips when he face lifted to his, eyes still closed, and turned her around slowly. She folded herself against him, her back glued to his chest, his arm around her waist, secured against her own chest by her arms, legs intertwined. 

She was falling back asleep when Matt reached his hand out and took her face in that caress that was his, thumb caressing cheek. Karen breathed in and out again and Frank could tell when she opened her eyes and saw Matt there, lying in front of her. 

“You are the most important thing in my life”, he said, continuing in his caress. “All that matters.”

After a moment, one of her hands let go of Frank’s and reached to touch Matt’s face. He watched as Red closed his eyes, leaning into the touch like it was a lifeline. 

Karen still slept pressed tightly against Frank, unwilling to let go of him. But she didn’t push Matt away as he moved closer, a kiss on her forehead, repeating that it was her, always her, his hand on her hip, over the blanket that covered her and Frank, not trying to cross that thin barrier.

One step at a time.


End file.
